the gun debate 1 year after newtown

8/13/2019 The Gun Debate 1 Year After Newtown

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2 Center for American Progress | The Gun Debate 1 Year After Newtown

In his issue brie, we assess six key claims ha have been made abou background

checks in he pas year:

40 percen o gun sales occur wihou a background check.

Few criminals visi gun shows o acquire guns illegally.

Universal background checks will no work because criminals will no submi o hem.

Effors o preven gun violence should ocus on sraw purchasing rom gun dealers,

no gun ransers among unlicensed buyers and sellers.

We should no enac new laws on background checks unil he ederal governmen

sars prosecuing violaions o he curren laws.

Universal background checks would harm gun dealers.

Some o he claims are rue, some are alse, and some all in he middle. Bu all

o hese common alking poins, wheher or or agains background checks, have

become divorced rom heir conex, making hem difficul o undersand. Our goal in

he pages ha ollow is o assess each o hese six key claims regarding he proposal o

require background checks or all gun sales in order o provide a deeper analysis and

conexualize he claims.


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1. Claim: 40 percent of gun sales occur without a background check.

An esimaed 40 percen o he gun ransers ha occur each year in he Unied

Saesmore han 6 million gun ransersoriginae fom privae sellers.

Cener or American Progress repor, January 14, 20134

Troughou he gun debae, proponens o universal background checks, includ-ing he auhors o his issue brie, have repeaedly cied his saisic.5Mos noably,

Presiden Barack Obama used he saisic in his remarks o he naion announcing a

se o gun-violence iniiaives on January 16, 2013, when he idenified universal back-

ground checks as his op legislaive prioriy, and has repeaed i a number o imes

since.6Opponens o background checks and independen ac checkers, such as Te

Washingon Poss Glenn Kessler, have pored over he 40 percen saisic and crii-

cized he presidens and ohers repeaed use o i.7Kessler gave he presiden Tree

Pinocchios or wha he described as a misleading saisic,8and PoliiFacac-checked

he saisic and deermined ha i was hal rue.9

So wha are we o make o he saisic and is relevance o he debae? Le us begin by

acknowledging ha his saisic has clear limiaions. I is derived rom a 1994 survey o

gun owners conduced by he Naional Insiue o Jusice. In his survey, 251 respon-

densa relaively small sample o gun ownerswere asked numerous quesions abou

heir guns, including how hey were acquired.10esearchers analyzing he survey resuls

in 1996 ound ha 35.7 percen o respondens indicaed ha hey obained heir gun

rom a source oher han a ederally licensed firearms dealeror example, hrough a

privae sale, gif, rade, or oher ranser beween individuals.11In a longer repor analyz-

ing he survey, hese researchers characerized he resuls as indicaing ha 30 percen o

40 percen o gun ransers did no involve a licensed dealer.12

In summary, he saisicis based on a survey ha is nearly 20 years old, he sample size was small, and here was

some ambiguiy in he respondens answersrespondens were given he opion o

saying heir gun was probably obained in a paricular way.13

Te 40 percen esimae is jus haan esimaeand he debae abou i speaks

o he challenge o rying o assess he volume o ransacions ha are compleely

unregulaed and ake place anonymously, wih no quesions asked and no records

kep. Despie is flaws, many researchers agree ha 40 percen is likely a rough approx-

imaion o he number o gun ransers ha occur wihou a background check.14

Addiionally, daa rom one sae ha requires a background check or all handgun

salesMichiganprovide urher suppor or his saisic. According o an analysis

conduced by he Michigan Sae Police in 2012, privae pary sales comprised 48 per-

cen o handgun sales in he sae.15Neverheless, proponens o universal background

checks, including his repors auhors, would be well served by acknowledging he

limiaions o he saisic.


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However, he lack o inormaion abou he exac size o he overall privae mar-

keplace or guns is no paricularly imporan. Te more crucial quesion is: How

requenly do criminals acquire guns in his markeplace? For ha quesion, we have

reliable daa demonsraing he real dangers inheren in no-background check sales. A

survey conduced by he Bureau o Jusice Saisics, or BJS, o housands o sae and

ederal prison inmaes ound ha more han wo-hirds68.8 perceno hose who

had used a gun in a crime had acquired i rom a source oher han a licensed dealer ina ransacion ha did no require a background check.16Tis number becomes more

significan when paired wih anoher saisic rom his survey o inmaes: 84 percen

o criminals who used a gun in a crime repored ha hey were already prohibied

rom possessing hem a he ime o heir gun crime.17Tis means ha hey could no

have passed a background check had hey sough o buy a gun rom a licensed dealer,

and hereore relied on riends, sree sellers, and unlicensed privae sellers o obain

guns. While his 1997 survey is also relaively old, i involved a very large sample size

o more han 18,000 respondens, and daa rom his survey are widely deemed o be

reliable. Indeed, he Naional ifle Associaion, or NR, and oher gun lobby groups

ofen cie his sudy as suppor or is argumens abou gun shows,18

as he ollowingsecion discusses in deail. Te BJS survey shows ha no-background check ransers

are he op way ha criminals obain guns.

Bottom line:The unregulated and anonymous nature of the private marketplace forguns makes it impossible to know for certain how many gun sales occur through private

transfers without background checks, though the best available evidence suggests that it is

a significant portion of gun transfers, involving millions of guns per year. More importantly,

however, there is reliable data indicating that a substantial majority of criminals obtain their

guns through no-background check transfers.


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2. Claim: Few criminals visit gun shows to acquire guns illegally.

Well, gun shows, righ now areaccording o all he surveys, are no a source o crime

guns, anyway. Is 1.7 percen.

NR Execuive Vice Presiden Wayne LaPierre esiying beore

he U.S. Senae Judiciary Commitee, January 30, 201319

Te same BJS sudy ha suggess ha criminals rely on privae no-background check

ransers o acquire guns in more han wo-hirds o cases also suggess ha only 1.7

percen o hose criminals visied gun shows o obain hose guns.20Te NR and oher

gun lobby groups have repeaedly cied his sudy o sugges ha concerns abou no-

background check gun sales a gun shows are overblown and ha privae sales a gun

shows are no a significan problem.21Te argumen goes, i so ew criminals go o gun

shows o ge guns, why regulae privae sales a hese evens?

Advocaes or sronger gun laws ypically make he case or he risks o no-background

check sales a gun shows by poining o a differen saisic rom a differen ederalrepor. A 2000 repor released by he Bureau o Alcohol, obacco, Firearms and

Explosives, or AF, looked a every ederal gun-rafficking prosecuion over a wo and

a hal year period1,530 cases involving 84,128 illegal guns.22Te repor ound ha

cases involving 25,862 o he illegally rafficked guns30 percen o he oalhad a

gun-show connecion.23So how can we reconcile he BJS and AF sudies? Te wo

sudies are roughly conemporaneous, bu poin in seemingly opposie direcions. Are

privae sales a gun shows a problem or no?

We can assume ha boh findings are direcionally accurae and ogeher hey pain a

picure o he role gun shows play in providing criminals easy access o guns. Te BJSsurvey asked criminals, he end users o illegal guns, how hey hemselves acquired heir

firearms. Ta is, he survey asked abou heproximaesource o he gun. Te findings

sugges ha ew criminals go direcly o gun shows o acquire guns. So who and wha

is more ypically he proximae source or he guns used in crimes? Sixy-nine percen

o criminals surveyed repored acquiring guns rom a riend, amily member, or sree

seller.24(Licensed gun dealers and hefs were he proximae sources 12 percen and

10 percen o he ime, respecively.25) Te quesion ha remains is where did many o

hose proximae sourceshe illegal sree gun dealer who sells guns in an alley, or he

riend who does no commi armed robberies himsel bu is willing o supply a gun o

his buddy who doesbuy hese guns? Te AF repor largely answers ha quesion:

Gun shows are, in ac, a major source o guns o he illegal marke. I suggess ha 3

ou o 10 guns ha criminals use in crimes changed hands a a gun show somewhere in

heir chain o cusody. Tese gun-show sales may be he criical momen in he chain o

cusody or many guns, he poin a which hey move rom he somewha-regulaed legal

marke o he shadowy, no-quesions-asked illegal marke.


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Such a finding makes sense. By way o analogy, unil is recen displacemen by Peru,26

Colombia was he worlds leading supplier o cocaine, accouning or an esimaed 42

percen o he worlds cocaine producion in 2011.27I is unlikely ha many drug deal-

ers operaing in U.S. ciies have physically ravelled o Colombia o acquire cocaine;

neverheless, Colombia has been a major source or he dealers produc, firs acquired

hrough inernaional rafficking neworks hen sold on he srees. So i is wih guns.

For gun raffickers, gun shows are a convenien, sae venue o shop or guns ha heywill laer illegally ranser o criminals. Every weekend, here are dozens o gun shows

aking place around he counry,28mixing licensed gun dealers and unlicensed privae

sellers who sell wihou conducing background checks or keeping any sales records.

While mos gun-show visiors are law-abiding ciizens, hese shows provide an easy

venue or gun raffickers o shop or guns. raffickers can buy guns in bulk in anony-

mous ransacions wihou a background check or paper rail.

Bottom line:Gun shows are an important venue where guns are easily diverted into the

illegal market, later ending up on the streets for criminal use.


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3. Claim: Universal background checks will not work because criminals

will not submit to them.

Criminals won paricipae in a universal sysem. Teyll always seal or ge heir

guns, and everyhing else hey wan, on he black marke. Reasonable people know ha

criminals will never be par o he universe.

Wayne LaPierre, USA oday op-ed, February 10, 201329

Opponens o universal background checks lodge one primary complain agains he

proposal: I will only impac law-abiding individuals because criminals will no ollow he

law and submi o background checks when rying o acquire guns. Tis argumen reflecs

a undamenal misundersanding o he criminal jusice sysem and he very purpose o

criminal laws. Criminals are, by definiion, individuals who do no ollow he law. We enac

criminal laws o se expecaions or conduc ha a sociey will no olerae and provide

a legal means or apprehending, prosecuing, and convicing hose who reuse o comply

and hereby hreaen public saey. Te ac ha a law will ineviably be broken does no

obviae he need o enac i. By his reasoning, we should no enac anycriminal lawsbecause here will always be some individuals who reuse o abide by hem.

I is rue ha i universal background checks legislaion were passed, many criminals

would break his law and buy guns illegally, jus as hey do now. Bu when hey atemp

o do so, having such a law in place would make i much easier o cach hem. Under a

sysem o universal background checks, every sale conduced wihou a background

checkwih he excepion o ransers beween amily members and oher ransers

ypically exemped by such lawswould be illegal. Such a sysem would provide law

enorcemen wih he means o sop individuals rom paricipaing in suspicious ransac-

ions and inerdic guns beore hey make i ino criminals hands. Tis approach wouldbe a significan improvemen over he curren sysem, in which police are powerless o

inervene when hey observe wha appear o be suspec sales, such as an individual sell-

ing guns ou o he runk o his car in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

Cerainly no every criminal who purchases a gun wihou submiting o a background

check will be caugh and prosecued. Bu he ac ha some people will no be caugh

breaking his law does no mean ha he policy is bad or ha he law should no be

enaced. By analogy, consider laws ha prohibi speeding. Obviously, no every driver

who violaes he law by surpassing he speed limi is pulled over and given a icke. Bu

he ac ha his law is in place gives police he auhoriy o pull over speeders and pro-

vides a means or enorcing his law. Likewise, universal background checkslike radar

deecors on a highwayprovide police wih a necessary ool o help sor ou ransers

beween law-abiding ciizens and ransers o guns o dangerous criminals.


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Addiionally, requiring background checks or all guns sales would dramaically shrink

he size o he marke or guns available or sale wihou a background check. I back-

ground checks were required or all gun sales, including hose by privae sellers, prohib-

ied purchasers would no longer be able o easily buy guns a gun shows, on he Inerne,

or hrough oher sales by well-inenioned, law-abiding privae sellers. Insead, he

only opion or criminals o acquire guns would be hrough he black marke or hef.

Conrary o he asserion o many in he gun lobby, obaining guns on he black markeis no paricularly easy and comes wih high risk.30Closing off oher channels o acquire

guns wihou a background check would hereore make i much more difficul or

criminals o easily obain guns when hey canno submi o a background check.

Finally, i is worh noing ha while i may seem illogical, a significan number o indi-

viduals prohibied rom gun ownership do, in ac, atemp o purchase a gun rom ed-

erally licensed dealers who conduc a background check. Since November 1998, when

he Naional Insan Criminal Background Check Sysem, or NICS, wen ino operaion,

more han 2 million prohibied individuals have been prevened rom buying a firearm

because o a background check.31

Exending background checks o privae sales wouldlikely add ens o housands o addiional blocked sales each year.

Bottom line:Universal background checks are crucial to preventing prohibited people

from easily buying guns in the secondary market. Additionally, enacting this law would pro-

vide law enforcement with a necessary tool to more easily identify and apprehend criminals

who engage in illegal gun sales.


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4. Claim: Efforts to prevent gun violence should focus on straw

purchasing from gun dealers, not gun transfers among unlicensed

buyers and sellers.

Raher han resricing he righs o law-abiding Americans, we should be ocus-

ing on keeping guns ou o he hands o violen criminals While he Obama

Adminisraion coninues o poliicize a errible ragedy o push is ani-gun agenda,I am proud o sand beside my ellow senaors o presen common-sense measures

ha will increase criminal prosecuions o elons who ry o buy guns, criminalize

sraw purchasing and gun rafficking

Sen. ed Cruz (-X), April 17, 201332

Some opponens o universal background checks argue ha privae sales o guns do no

cause guns o be divered o criminals. Insead, hey argue ha policymakers and law

enorcemen should ocus on one o he primary ways ha criminals do obain guns:

sraw purchases. A sraw purchase is when an individual wih a clean background pur-

chases a gun rom a licensed dealer on behal o someone who is legally prohibied romfirearm ownership or reasons such as elony convicion, ugiive saus, or domesic

violence misdemeanor convicion or resraining order. Tink o i like a eenager asking

an adul o buy him beer. Engaging in a sraw purchase is a elony under curren law. 33

Sraw purchasing o firearms is a significan problem and is among he mos common

ways ha criminals acquire guns. O he rafficking cases sudied by AF in he 2000

reporcases ha involved 84,128 illegally rafficked firearms46 percen involved

a sraw purchase.34

Cerainly, law enorcemen should ocus on ideniying and prosecuing individuals whoparicipae in sraw purchases. And proposals such as he one offered by Sen. Kirsen

Gillibrand (D-NY)35and he one suppored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (-IA) in commi-

ee36o expand he definiions and penalies or sraw purchasing and gun rafficking

would grealy aid hese effors. In conras, he proposal suppored by Sen. Cruz would

have made i harder o prosecue sraw purchasers by imposing a prohibiively high

burden o proo ha would be nearly unenorceableproo o acual knowledge on he

par o he sraw purchaser or rafficker ha he person or whom hey were buying he

gun was prohibied rom firearm ownership or inended o use i in a crime.37

Bu wha Sen. Cruz and ohers ail o undersand or acknowledge is ha every sraw pur-

chase involves a privae ranser. Te sraw purchaser goes hrough a background check,

buys he gun rom a dealer, hen gives or resells he gun o he prohibied person or

whom i was bough. Under he curren sysem, i is exremely difficul o prove ha his

handoff violaed he law. One mus prove ha he purchaser eiher bough he gun wih

he specific inen o ranserring i o someone elseoher han as a bona-fide gifor

ha he or she knew ha he ulimae recipien was legally prohibied rom gun owner-


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ship. Afer all, because o he lack o background checks on secondary marke sales, righ

now i is perecly legal or someone o buy a gun rom a licensed dealer and decide a

week laer o sell he gun o a sranger in a no-quesions-asked ransacion. Prosecuors

seeking o convic someone o a sraw purchase ace a paricularly challenging burden o

proo because hey mus demonsrae ha he secondary ransacion ell ino he ormer

caegory raher han he later, which urns on wha was in he persons mind a he ime

hey purchased he gun rom he dealer.

A universal background check requiremen is hereore crucial o effecive prosecuion

o sraw purchasers. Tis change in he law would make i much easier or law enorce-

men o assess he sraw purchasers mindse a he ime hey made he purchase rom

he dealer. I ha person quickly ransers ha gun wihou a background check, hen

no only has he violaed he new background check requiremen, bu he has also dem-

onsraed his unlawul inen regarding he enire ransacion.

Bottom line:Straw purchasing is a major avenue through which guns are diverted into

the illegal market and no-background check transfers are part of every straw purchase. A

universal background check lawalong with a law that toughens penalties for straw pur-

chasing and illegal traffickingwill greatly assist law enforcements ability to crack down

on straw purchasing.


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5. Claim: We should not enact new laws on background checks until the

federal government starts prosecuting violations of the current laws.

[W]e need o enorce he housands o gun laws ha are currenly on he books.

Prosecuing criminals who misuse firearms works ou o more han 76,000 firearms

purchases denied by he ederal insan check sysem, only 62 were reerred or prosecuion

and only 44 were acually prosecued. Proposing more gun conrol lawswhile ailing oenorce he housands we already haveis no a serious soluion o reducing crime.

Wayne LaPierre esifying before he U.S. Senae

Judiciary Commitee, January 30, 201338

One manra o he gun lobby during he pas year is ha here are already sufficien

laws in place o address criminal use o firearms, and ha raher han enac new laws,

ederal prosecuors should ocus on prosecuing individuals who violae hose laws. In

paricular, opponens o sronger gun laws poin o he relaively low prosecuion rae o

individuals who are prohibied rom gun ownership bu atemp o purchase a gun rom

a ederally licensed dealer anyway and lie on he orm required or such a purchaseconduc ha consiues a elony.

I is rue ha here are relaively ew ederal prosecuions o hese lie-and-ry-o-buy

cases. Te 2010 daa are ofen used o suppor his argumen: In 2010, 76,142 gun sales

were denied by he NICS sysem or reasons such as elony convicion, ugiive saus, or

domesic violence misdemeanor convicion or resraining order. Afer urher invesiga-

ion by AF and he U.S. Atorneys Offices, only 44 o hese cases were ulimaely pros-

ecued in ederal cour.39Boh advocaes or sronger gun lawsincluding he auhors

o his issue brieand gun-law opponens have long called or enhanced ederal pros-

ecuions o such cases and addiional reerrals o sae and local law enorcemen.40

Te saisics regarding ederal prosecuions, however, do no accoun or he enire uni-

verse o NICS denial cases. Many o hese cases are prosecued in sae cour. For example,

rom 2006 o 2010, law enorcemen in Pennsylvania arresed 962 individuals who sough

o buy a firearm and were denied because o a sae law prohibiion and obained convic-

ions o 703 such individuals.41In Virginia during his period, law enorcemen arresed

4,029 individuals afer atemps o purchase a gun despie a sae law prohibiion.42

Addiionally, lie-and-ry-o-buy cases are only a small sliver o ederal gun-relaed

prosecuions in he Unied Saes. From 2005 o 2012, 113,541 individuals were

indiced in ederal cour or gun crimes invesigaed and reerred or prosecuion

by AF, including possession o a gun by a elon and illegal firearms rafficking.43In

2012 alone, more han 8,600 deendans were prosecued in ederal cour or firearms

offenses, including possession by a prohibied person and using a firearm in urherance

o a violen or drug-rafficking crime.44Addiionally, he bulk o gun-relaed crimes are

prosecued in sae cours as par o cases involving oher violen crimes.45


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Federal prosecuors should pursue more ederal cases o prohibied purchasers who

ry o buy guns in addiion o pursuing he housands o oher ederal gun-law viola-

ions hey already prosecue each year. However, i does no logically ollow ha

universal background checks legislaion should be pu on a back burner unil ha

happens. We should ake every available sep o ensure ha dangerous people do no

coninue o have easy access o guns. Srong enorcemen o curren laws and enac-

men o new laws are no muually exclusive and, as discussed in he preceding sec-ion, a universal background checks law would aid in effors o ideniy and effecively

prosecue criminals who buy guns illegally.

Bottom line:Enforcement of current gun laws and enactment of new laws to prevent

dangerous people from easily accessing guns would be mutually reinforcing, not mutually

exclusive. Both better laws and tougher enforcement should be pursued.


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6. Claim: Universal background checks would harm gun dealers.

I can ell you ha jus he logisics o he legislaion, he oomey-Manchin one, he

way i prioriized gun show checks over reailers. I mean jus on a sor o imple-

menaion level. A lo o concern fom reailers abou ha heir [sic] he way hey

prioriized i puting aside he checking o i, ha amongs reailers here was a lo o

concern fom jus acually gun shop owners. Sen. Kelly Ayote (-NH), April 18, 201346

In he lead-up o he April voe on expanded background checks in he Senaeeven

wih he NRs vocal opposiion o he proposalhere was a quesion o wheher

ohers in he gun lobby, paricularly groups represening gun reailers, would ake

a posiion on he bill. Ten, on March 5, Te Washingon Posrepored ha he

Naional Shooing Spors Foundaion, or NSSFhe firearm indusrys rade associa-

ionwas supporive o he background checks proposal.47TePossory quoed he

presiden o NSSF, Seve Saneti, as saying ha opposiion o background checks was

more he NRs issue and ha []rom he commercial side, were already here, andweve been here, and we were he ones ha have been he sronges proponens o an

effecive, complee background check.48

Bu he ollowing day, NSSF changed course, conesing he veraciy o he Pos aricle

and assering ha here is no conflic beween hemselves and he NR. In a sae-

men on is websie, he NSSF saed ha i suppored improvemens o he NICS

sysem, bu shared concerns wih oher groups abou expanding background checks

beyond reai l sales.49And laer, in a saemen he day beore he Senae voe, NSSF

sen an email blas o supporers aking an even sronger sance agains expanded

background checks: Te Naional Shooing Spors Foundaion (NSSF), as he fire-arms indusrys rade associaion, has consisenly opposed he concep o so-called

universal background checks.50

Bu he quesion remains: Does he NSSFs mos recen posiion accuraely reflec

he views o he naions gun dealers? A new survey answers his quesionand he

answer is no.

A survey o gun dealers conduced by he Universiy o Caliornia, Davis, in 2011 and

released las monh shows ha 55.4 percen o gun dealers suppor expanding back-

ground checks o all guns sales, wih 37.5 percen expressing srong suppor.51Tis

suppor makes inuiive sense. Under he exising ederal law, privae sellers, who are

permited o conduc gun sales wihou having o perorm background checks or keep

paperwork, consiue compeiion or licensed gun dealers who are legally required


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o do so. Moreover, a universal background check, a leas as implemened in he saes

ha already require i, would require privae buyers and sellers o mee a a gun sore

o conduc he exchange and do he background check. Tese ransacions will bring

oo raffic ino gun soresand hose privae buyers and sellers may buy ammuniion,

holsers, or oher gear while in he sores.

Bottom line:Imposing a background checks requirement on private sales would not

impose an undue burden on gun dealers, and a majority of dealers support this proposal.

Conclusion

Te quesion o how o address he problem o gun violence in his counry is a com-

plicaed one, and here is no single soluion or easy fix. Over he pas year, he naional

debae on guns has been someimes robus, and a oher imes oversimplified. Bu when

you scrape away all o he bluser and rheoric, he basic argumen underlying all o he

recen proposals o srenghen he naions gun laws is acually quie simple: Dangerous

people should no be able o easily acquire guns. Te quesion hen becomes, how do

we preven hem rom doing so?

Te soluion is a comprehensive approach o prevening dangerous people rom acquir-

ing guns ha addresses muliple aces o he issue. Such an approach has our elemens:

Prohibit all dangerous people from owning guns. All poenially dangerous individu-als need o be idenified as such and prohibied rom gun ownership. Many such peo-

ple are already covered by he ederal lawincluding elons, ugiives, some domesic

abusers, and he dangerously menally illbu here are addiional caegories o

people who should also be barred rom possessing guns, such as violen misdemean-

ans,52conviced misdemeanan salkers, and cerain domesic abusers who are no

covered by he curren law.53Many saes have already aced o bar such persons rom

possessing guns under sae laws.54

Ensure that all relevant records are submitted to NICS. All o he records perain-ing o prohibied purchasers mus be submited o NICS o ensure ha he sysem

caches every person who atemps o illegally purchase a firearm. Grea progress has

been made in encouraging saes o submi records regarding people prohibied rom

gun possession due o menal il lness. In 2004, here were only 126,000 menal healh

records in NICS55ha number has grown o more han 3 million records as o


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Ocober 2013.56Bu here is sill more work o be done: Tere are 15 saes ha have

sill submited ewer han 100 menal healh records o NICS o dae.57Tere are also

gaps in he submission o domesic violence records.58

Require background checks for all gun sales.Tis is he only means o prevening pro-hibied individuals rom easily buying guns rom privae sellers wih no quesions asked.

Impose strong penalties for violating gun laws.Tere mus be meaningul penaliesor hose who break he law. Tis means increased invesigaions o individuals who

lie and ry o buy and prosecuion o he mos dangerous among hose who pose

a significan risk o public saey when armed, such as elons, ugiives, and domesic

abusers. We also need o enac sronger laws wih ougher penalies or sraw purchas-

ing and firearms rafficking. Federal prosecuors ace serious challenges prosecuing

hese cases under curren law, and when hey are successul, he deendans are ofen

senenced o litle more han probaion.

aking acion on each o hese our componens will pu us in a much sronger posiiono preven gun violence in our communiies.

Finally, in regards o how our counry conducs his debae on guns in he uure, we

should acknowledge ha in he pas year, boh sides in he debae have made missae-

mens and aken acs ou o conex in a manner ha has oo ofen conused more han

i has inormed. Bu readers should no conclude ha he auhors make any sor o alse

equivalence beween he case ypically made by advocaes or sronger gun laws and he

case made by hose who oppose such laws. By any measure, gun-law opponens have

abused he acs in his debae more requenly and egregiously.

o be sure, here is much we do no know abou guns and gun crime in his coun-

ry. Much o he bes available research is 10 o 20 years old and i is very difficul o

undersand he unregulaed, undocumened markeplace o privae gun sales. Our

naional debae on gun background checks would be grealy aided by more research

and inormaion abou how guns are divered ou o he lawul sream o commerce and

ino criminal hands. Bu he lack o his inormaion should no derail effors o enac

common-sense legislaion o make i difficul or criminals o access guns. And lasly, as

independen-minded people consider his debae and he limis o inormaion avail-

able o inorm i, an imporan quesion o consider is: W ho is working o keep ha

inormaion hidden? For years, advocaes or sronger gun laws have called or greaer

research and daa collecion,59while a he same ime he NR has been pushing budge

resricions aimed a muzzling ederal and sae unded research on gun violence.60I is

perhaps worh asking: Wha acs are hey so araid o?

Arkadi Gerney is a Senior Fellow a he Cener or American Progress. Chelsea Parsons is

Associae Direcor o Crime and Firearms Policy a he Cener.


16/17


Endnotes

1 The proposal to ban assault weapons and high-capacitymagazines was directly responsive to the Newtown shoot-ing, as well as a number of other recent mass shootings. Butthis proposal received only tepid support in public opinionpolls and in Congress.

2 Arkadi Gerney, Chelsea Parsons, and Charles Posner,America Under the Gun: A 50-State Analysis of Gun

Violence and Its Link to Weak State Gun Laws (Washington:Center for American Progress, 2013), available at http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/AmericaUnderTheGun-4.pdf; Mayors Against IllegalGuns, Gun Background Checks Reduce Crime and SaveLives, available at http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/9/a2/3/1982/MAIG_-_2_-_Background_checks_national_charts_-_b.pdf(last accessed December 2013); Garen J.Wintemute and others, Prior Misdemeanor Convictions asa Risk Factor for Later Violent and Firearm-Related CriminalActivity Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns,

Journal of the American Medical Association280 (24) (1998):2,0832,087, available at http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=188297; Daniel W. Webster and others,The Case for Gun Policy Reforms in America (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, 2012),available at http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-in-stitutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/publications/WhitePaper102512_CGPR.pdf.

3 Margie Omero and others, What the Public Really ThinksAbout Guns (Washington: Center for American Progress,2013), available athttp://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/GunPolling-5.pdf.

4 Neera Tanden and others, Preventing Gun Violence in OurNation (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2013),available at http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GunViolenceBrief-1.pdf.

5 Ibid.; Winnie Stachelberg and others, Preventing DomesticAbusers and Stalkers from Accessing Guns (Washington:Center for American Progress, 2013), available at http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/GunsStalkersBrief-3.pdf.

6 The White House, Remarks by the President and Vice Presi-dent on Gu n Violence, available athttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/16/remarks-president-and-vice-president-gun-violence(last accessed December 2013).

7 Glenn Kessler, Obamas continued use of the claim that40 percent of gun sales lack background checks, TheWashington Post, April 2, 2013, available athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-continued-use-of-the-claim-that-40-percent-of-gun-sales-lack-background-checks/2013/04/01/002e06ce-9b0f-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_blog.html.

8 Ibid.

9 PolitiFact, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says 40 percent ofguns are sold without a bac kground check, July 25, 2012,available at http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/state-ments/2012/jul/25/michael-bloomberg/mayor-michael-bloomberg-says-40-percent-guns-are-s/.

10 Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, Guns in America: NationalSurvey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (Wash-ington: U.S. Department of Justice, 1997), available athttps://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf.

11 Ibid.; Glenn Kessler, The stale claim that 40 percent of gunsales lack background checks,The Washington Post, January21, 2013, available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-stale-claim-that-40-percent-of-gun-sales-lack-background-checks/2013/01/20/e42ec050-629a-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_blog.html.

12 Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, Gun In America: Results ofa Comprehensive National Survey on Firearms Ownershipand Use (Washington: Police Foundation, 1996), availableathttp://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/Cook%20et%20al.%20%281996%29%20-%20Guns%20in%20America.pdf.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.; Garen Wintemute, Background Checks for FirearmTransfers (Sacramento, CA: University of California, Davis,2013), p. 4, available at http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/vprp/CBC%20White%20Paper%20Final%20Report%20022013.pdf.

15 CBS Detroit, Bing ,Godbee, Eight Local Mayors Oppose NewGun Bill, September 25, 2012, available at http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/25/bing-godbee-eight-local-mayors-oppose-new-gun-bill/.

16 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Firearm Use by Offenders(U.S.Department of Justice, 2001), table 8, available athttp://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fuo.pdf. This study is sometimes citedfor showing that roughly 80 percent of inmates indicatedthat they obtained their guns through a transaction withsomeone other than a licensed dealer. This 80 percentfigure includes 9.9 percent of inmate respondents who indi-cated that they obtained their firearm through theft. For thepurposes of this report, we chose to exclude guns obtainedthrough theft.

17 Ibid., table 12.

18 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence onJan. 30, 2013 (Transcript), available at http://articles.wash-ingtonpost.com/2013-01-30/politics/36628109_1_gun-violence-gabby-giffords-senator-grassley/28 (last accessedDecember 2013).

19 Ibid.

20 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Firearm Use by Offenders.

21 National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Myth of theGun Show Loophole, available at http://www.nssf.org/factsheets/PDF/MythofGunShowLoophole.pdf(last ac-cessed December 2013); David Sherfinski, NRA head waryon background checks, wants better instant check system,The Washington Times, January 31, 2013, available at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/31/nra-head-argument-against-gun-show-loophole-overbl/.

22 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Following the Gun:Enforcing Federal Law Against Firearms Traffickers(U.S.Department of the Treasury, 2000), p. 13, available athttp://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/Follow-

ing_the_Gun%202000.pdf.

23 Ibid., p. 13.

24 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Firearm Use by Offenders, table 8.

25 Ibid.

26 Andriana Leon and Chris Kraul, Peru passes Colum-bia in coca growth, raising enforcement concerns,September 27, 2013, available at http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-peru-colombia-coca-cocaine-20130927,0,247166.story.

27 The Economist, Why is less cocaine coming from Colum-bia?, April 2, 2013, available at http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-why-colombia-produces-less-cocaine.

28 U.S. Department of Justice, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,

Firearms and Explosives Investigative Operations at GunShows (2007), p. i, availab le at http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e0707/final.pdf. The report estimates that everyyear between 2,000 and 5,200 gun shows take place aroundthe country.

29 Wayne LaPierre, NRA: Why universal checks wont work,USA Today, February 10, 2013, available at http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/02/10/wayne-lapierre-nra-universal-checks/1907427/.

30 Philip J. Cook and others, Underground Gun Markets, TheEconomic Journal117 (2007), available athttp://home.uchicago.edu/~ludwigj/papers/EJ_gun_markets_2007.pdf.
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31 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Background Checks for FirearmsTransfers, 2010 - Statistical Tables (U.S. Department of Justice,2013), available athttp://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bcft10st.pdf.

32 Jonathan Easley, Sens. Grassley and Cruz roll out alternativegun control bill, The Hill, April 17, 2013, available at http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294499-sens-grassley-and-cruz-present-alternative-gun-bill.

33 Falsely stating to a gun dealer that you are the actualpurchaser of a gun is punishable under 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(6)and 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(1)(A).

34 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Following the Gun:Enforcing Federal Law Against Firearms Traffickers, table 2.

35 Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013, S. 54, 113thCong. 1 sess. (Government Printing Office, 2013).

36 Sen. Chuck Grassley, Grassley Statement on Gun Traffick-ing/Straw Purchasing Legislation, Press release, March 7,2013, available at http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=44948.

37 Protecting Communities and Preserving the SecondAmendment Act of 2013, S. 649, 113th Cong. 1 sess. (Gov-ernment Printing Office, 2013).

38 National Rifle Association of America, Testimony of WayneLaPierre Before the U.S. Senate Committee on the JudiciaryHearing on What Should We Do Abo ut Gun Violence? ,available at http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-

nra-ila/2013/1/testimony-of-wayne-lapierre-before-the-us-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-hearing-on-what-should-america-do-about-gun-violence.aspx(last accessedDecember 2013).

39 Ronald J. Frandsen, Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2010:Federal and State Investigations and Prosecutions ofFirearm Applicants Denied by a NICS Check in 2010(Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, 2012), available athttps://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/239272.pdf.

40 Tanden and others, Preventing Gun Violence in OurNation; Mayors Against Illegal Gu ns, A Blueprint forFederal Action on Illegal Guns (2009), available at http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/blue-print_federal_action.pdf;Michael S. Schmidt, Both Sidesin Gun Debate Agree: Punish Background-Check Liars,TheNew York Times, January 13, 2013, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/us/politics/us-may-focus-more-on-gun-background-checks.html.

41 Frandsen, Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2010, table J.

42 Ibid., table K.

43 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Factsand Figures (Fiscal Year 2012), available at http://www.atf.gov/publications/factsheets/factsheet-ffl-facts-and-figures.html(last accessed Decmeber 2013).

44 U.S. Courts, Table D-2: U.S. District CourtsCriminalDefendants Commenced, by Offense, During the 12-MonthPeriods Ending September 30, 2008 Through 2012, avail-able at http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/Statistics/Judici-alBusiness/2012/appendices/D02DSep12.pdf(last accessedDecember 2013).

45 Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, FederalWeapons Enforcement: A Moving Target, February 13, 2013,available at http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/307/.

46 Igor Volsky, Gun Violence Victim Confronts Senator forVoting Down Background Checks, ThinkProgress, April18, 2013, available at http://thinkprogress.org/poli-tics/2013/04/18/1891301/gun-violence-victim-confronts-senator-for-voting-down-background-checks/.

47 Tom Hamburger and Sari Horwitz, Gun advocates splitwith NRA on background checks, The Washington Post,March 5, 2013, available at http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-05/world/37467784_1_background-checks-gun-manufacturers-gun-industry.

48 Ibid.

49 National Shooting Sports Foundation, Be Wary of MediaReports. We All Agree Lets Fix NICS, March 6, 2013,available at http://www.nssfblog.com/be-wary-of-media-reports-we-all-agree-lets-fix-nics/.

50 Dan Zimmerman, NSSF Statement Opposing ManchinToomey Background Check Amendment, The Truth AboutGuns, April 15, 2013, available at http://www.thetruthabout-guns.com/2013/04/daniel-zimmerman/nssf-statement-op-posing-manchin-toomey-background-check-amendment/.

51 Garen J. Wintemute, Support for a Comprehensive Back-ground Check Requirement and Expanding Denial Criteriafor Firearm Transfers: Findings from the Firearms LicenseeSurvey,Journal of Urban Health(2013), available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11524-013-9842-7#page-1/.

52 For an analysis of the heightened risk of future violenceposed by individuals with violent misdemeanor convictions,see Wintemute and others, Prior Misdemeanor Convictionsas a Risk Factor for Later Violent and Firearm-Related Crimi-nal Activity Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns.

53 For a discussion of the loopholes in the current law thatleave victims of stalking and domestic violence vulnerableto gun violence, see Stachelberg and others, PreventingDomestic Abusers and Stalkers from Accessing Guns.

54 Twenty-four states prohibit individuals convicted of certainmisdemeanor crimes from possessing firearms. Law Center

to Prevent Gun Violence, Prohibited Purchasers GenerallyPolicy Summary, May 21, 2012, available at http://smart-gunlaws.org/prohibited-purchasers-generally-policy-sum-mary/.Seven states and the District of Columbia prohibitconvicted misdemeanant stalkers from possessing guns.Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Domestic Violence &Firearms Policy Summary, May 17, 2012, available athttp://smartgunlaws.org/domestic-violence-firearms-policy-summary/.

55 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Gun Control: Shar-ing Promising Practices and Assessing Incentives CouldBetter Position Justice to Assist States in Providing Recordsfor Background Checks (2012), available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592452.pdf.

56 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Active Records in the NICSIndex, available at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/active-records-in-the-nics-index-100313.pdf(lastaccessed December 2013).

57 Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Twenty Years After U.S.Requires Gun Background Checks, New FBI Data ShowsInformation Gaps Still Allow Criminals to Get Firearms, Pressrelease, November 21, 2013; Mayors Against Illegal Guns,Fatal Gaps: Can Dangerous People Buy Guns in Your State?,available at http://www.demandaction.org/fatalgaps(lastaccessed December 2013).

58 For example, as of October 31, 2013, there are only 6,431records regarding domestic violence restraining orders inNICS. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Active Records in theNICS Index.

59 Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Access Denied: How the GunLobby is Depriving Police, Policy Makers, and the Public ofthe Data We Need to Prevent Gun Violence (2013), avail-able athttp://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/9/cc/3/1482/AccessDenied_print_021713.pdf; Jay Dickey and MarkRosenberg, We wont know the cause of gu n violence untilwe look for it, The Washington Post, July 27, 2012, available

athttp://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-07-27/opin-ions/35486709_1_gun-violence-traffic-fatalities-firearm-deaths.

60 Michael Luo, NRA Stymies Firearms Research, ScientistsSay, The New York Times, January 25, 2011, availableathttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&;Siddhartha Mahanta, Howthe NRA Bl ocks Gun Research, Mother Jones, January27, 2011, available at http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/nra-asks-wheres-evidence.
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eres-evidencehttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/nra-asks-wheres-evidencehttp://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/nra-asks-wheres-evidencehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-07-27/opinions/35486709_1_gun-violence-traffic-fatalities-firearm-deathshttp://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-07-27/opinions/35486709_1_gun-violence-traffic-fatalities-firearm-deathshttp://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-07-27/opinions/35486709_1_gun-violence-traffic-fatalities-firearm-deathshttp://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/9/cc/3/1482/AccessDenied_print_021713.pdfhttp://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/9/cc/3/1482/AccessDenied_print_021713.pdfhttp://www.demandaction.org/fatalgapshttp://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/active-records-in-the-nics-index-100313.pdfhttp://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/active-records-in-the-nics-index-100313.pdfhttp://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592452.pdfhttp://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592452.pdfhttp://smartgunlaws.org/domestic-violence-firearms-policy-summary/http://smartgunlaws.org/domestic-violence-firearms-policy-summary/http://smartgunlaws.org/domestic-violence-firearms-policy-summary/http://smartgunlaws.org/prohibited-purchasers-generally-policy-summary/http://smartgunlaws.org/prohibited-purchasers-generally-policy-summary/http://smartgunlaws.org/prohibited-purchasers-generally-policy-summary/http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/04/daniel-zimmerman/nssf-statement-opposing-manchin-toomey-background-check-amendment/http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/04/daniel-zimmerman/nssf-statement-opposing-manchin-toomey-background-check-amendment/http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/04/daniel-zimmerman/nssf-statement-opposing-manchin-toomey-background-check-amendment/http://www.nssfblog.com/be-wary-of-media-reports-we-all-agree-lets-fix-nics/http://www.nssfblog.com/be-wary-of-media-reports-we-all-agree-lets-fix-nics/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-05/world/37467784_1_background-checks-gun-manufacturers-gun-industryhttp://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-05/world/37467784_1_background-checks-gun-manufacturers-gun-industryhttp://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-05/world/37467784_1_background-checks-gun-manufacturers-gun-industryhttp://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/18/1891301/gun-violence-victim-confronts-senator-for-voting-down-background-checks/http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/18/1891301/gun-violence-victim-confronts-senator-for-voting-down-background-checks/http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/18/1891301/gun-violence-victim-confronts-senator-for-voting-down-background-checks/http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/307/http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/Statistics/JudicialBusiness/2012/appendices/D02DSep12.pdfhttp://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/Statistics/JudicialBusiness/2012/appendices/D02DSep12.pdfhttp://www.atf.gov/publications/factsheets/factsheet-ffl-facts-and-figures.htmlhttp://www.atf.gov/publications/factsheets/factsheet-ffl-facts-and-figures.htmlhttp://www.atf.gov/publications/factsheets/factsheet-ffl-facts-and-figures.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/us/politics/us-may-focus-more-on-gun-background-checks.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/us/politics/us-may-focus-more-on-gun-background-checks.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/us/politics/us-may-focus-more-on-gun-background-checks.htmlhttp://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/blueprint_federal_action.pdfhttp://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/blueprint_federal_action.pdfhttp://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/blueprint_federal_action.pdfhttps://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/239272.pdfhttp://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/1/testimony-of-wayne-lapierre-before-the-us-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-hearing-on-what-should-america-do-about-gun-violence.aspxhttp://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/1/testimony-of-wayne-lapierre-before-the-us-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-hearing-on-what-should-america-do-about-gun-violence.aspxhttp://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/1/testimony-of-wayne-lapierre-before-the-us-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-hearing-on-what-should-america-do-about-gun-violence.aspxhttp://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/1/testimony-of-wayne-lapierre-before-the-us-senate-committee-on-the-judiciary-hearing-on-what-should-america-do-about-gun-violence.aspxhttp://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=44948http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=44948http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294499-sens-grassley-and-cruz-present-alternative-gun-billhttp://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294499-sens-grassley-and-cruz-present-alternative-gun-billhttp://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294499-sens-grassley-and-cruz-present-alternative-gun-billhttp://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bcft10st.pdfhttp://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bcft10st.pdf

the gun debate 1 year after newtown

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